With the revolution-era tourism booming in China, more Russian travel providers are introducing visa-free offers to attract Chinese visitors.
UTS Travel based in Moscow introduced a route from Moscow to St. Petersburg called “Mao Zedong's Road” during the Spring Festival. This is specially designed for Chinese visitors.
"This year, we have attached more importance to eastern countries, such as India, Japan and especially Chinese mainland," said Mikhail Vovchenko, head of China-Russia Incoming Division. "China and Russia share a lot of history and this historical heritage is very attractive to Chinese visitors."
Vovchenko said he visited Chinese mainland in May and noticed many Russian tourism products had no specific theme.
"They were only promoting attractions like 'Moscow Golden Ring St.Petersburg'," said Vovchenko. "I did a lot of research and found out the details of Mao Zedong's visit to Russia in 1950s. So I designed this Mao Zedong Road and combined all scenic spots with history."
Chinese visitors would not need a visa to visit Moscow, said Svetlana Gavnich, sales and business development director of UTS Travel.
Other Russian travel agencies also promoted under the general theme "Red Route" at China International Tourism Mart 2014 in Shanghai. They provide different service, including cruise and railway travel around Russia. These journeys do not need visa.
Revolution-era tourism, also called "red tourism", is gaining popularity in China as the government pumps money into developing sites related to the Chinese revolution and is seeking cooperation with Russia.
From July to August, 1,078 Chinese tourists visited sites in Russia associated with the former Soviet Union and the communist revolution, such as Red Square in Moscow, Lenin's mausoleum and the cruiser "Aurora".
And in 2015, there will be more because next year marks the 70 anniversary of the victory of anti-Fascist war, said one representative of Beijing Global Travel, which organized the visit to Russia with the coordinating group for revolution-era tourism, a sub-sector under the China National Tourism Administration.
It is estimated that by 2015, red tourism sites nationwide will welcome 800 million visitors per year and earn revenue of 200 billion yuan ($32 billion), according to Xinhua News Agency.
"Red tourism in China is developing very well now," said Luo Dihui, deputy director of the coordinating group. China has 14 national 5A-level revolution-era tourist sites.
"Developing red tourism needs international cooperation," Luo said. "China and Russia share profound red tourism resources which I believe will be a growing point in the future."
By Su Zhou in Shanghai (chinadaily.com.cn)
